Advent Writing Contest 2025: Reading by Winners and Finalists

Join CLA members and friends to celebrate the 2025 Advent Contest winners and finalists. This year's Advent contest asked writers to compose poems in honor of Mary, Holy, Silent Mother of God. The season of Advent provides a time particularly appropriate to journeying inward to prepare for the birth of the Divine Savior.

This year's judge is V. Paige Parker.

V. Paige Parker has an MFA in Creative Writing with a focus on formal poetry from the University of St. Thomas (Houston, Texas). She is a first-place winner and four-time finalist in Catholic Literary Arts poetry contests. Her poetry has appeared in Integrated Catholic Life, The Society of Classical Poets, The Clayjar Review, and New Verse Review, among others. Her Substack can be found at https://substack.com/@vpaigeparker